Supporting The Troops

Gloucester County College memorializes veteran with new scholarship

Gloucester County College memorializes veteran with new scholarship | NJ.com

DEPTFORD TWP. — Although Eric Domurat's college experience was cut short during World War II, a new Gloucester County College scholarship in his honor will ensure that others who have served the country will have a chance to further their education.
Domurat died last fall at 96 years of age, but with the help of his family and the college, his memory will live on through the studies of others.

The Eric Domurat Memorial Scholarship will be available to honorably discharged United States military veterans.
It will provide $500 annually to one Gloucester County resident with a grade-point average of 2.5 or greater attending GCC full-time.
Barbara Turner, Domurat's daughter and dean of the college's new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) division, arranged the perpetual scholarship with her mother's blessing.

"We wanted to do what we could to share with others the opportunity of an education,"

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said Turner, whose family is thrilled with the possibility of aiding others in their learning endeavors.
Domurat was studying art conservation in Poland when he was drafted into the Polish army at the beginning of WWII.

Yellow Ribbon Club to shut down after 7 years of welcoming home veterans | NJ.com

Saturday, September 08, 2012, 9:00 AM
By Phil Davis/Gloucester County Times

Yellow Ribbon Club to shut down after 7 years of welcoming home veterans

EVESHAM — After seven years of greeting Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans to the tune of motorcycles revving and police sirens blaring, the Yellow Ribbon Club will be no longer be welcoming home Gloucester County troops from oversees.
According to the club's Founder and President, Leslie Drummond, the club will also no longer be accepting donations and will use the remaining funds in the club treasury to purchase items to ship to troops overseas.

Some of the remaining members of the club will start the Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey Club in its stead, with David Silver heading operations of the new club once the remaining funds from the existing Yellow Ribbon Club have been spent by the end of the year.

Drummond said that ending the club was a tough decision and that she's thankful that former members of the club will continue to support returning troops with the club's shining "Welcome Home" events.

"It's gotten so big that maybe additional steps would have had to be made to continue,"

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said Drummond, citing problems with members being able to attend all the "Welcome Home" events.

"You come to a crossroads where you have to make a decision,"

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said Drummond.

Drummond started the Yellow Ribbon Club in 2005, when her son was deployed to Iraq with the 104th Airborne Division. For her, it was a way to not only honor troops deployed overseas, but also a way to productively occupy her time while her son was an ocean away.

"Seven years ago, I felt like I was alone with my son being deployed," said Drummond. "We didn't know if we were going to get support or not. And it all turned out for the positive. It was a great ride."

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And for Silver's new club, the goal isn't trying to replicate exactly what the Yellow Ribbon Club has done over the past seven years. Shipping over 28,000 pounds of goods to Afghanistan to give troops a helping hand and facilitating over 300 "Welcome Home" events among other things, Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey is simply looking to keep up the spirit of the former club.

"There's no way anyone can match what the Yellow Ribbon Club has done," said Silver. "It would be an honor to do even one percent of what they did."

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Thank You From Our Troops

East Greenwich's 'Widow Sons' motorcycle club help transport Vietnam-era aircraft | NJ.com

Friday, September 21, 2012, 8:00 PM
By Rebecca Forand/South Jersey Times

EAST GREENWICH TWP. — Motorcycles lined the road Thursday morning as the riders helped escort a Vietnam-era helicopter from South Carolina to the Harmon Museum and Historical Society in Old Orchards, Maine.

The motorcade stopped at the Masonic Lodge No. 87 in East Greenwich, bringing the large, green aircraft through the area on a flat-bed truck, and picking up a few more riders. Widow Sons motorcycle club members from all over South Jersey joined the group here with plans to continue on for the duration of the ride.

"We're showing some respect for the veterans,"

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said District Department Master Bill Dutka.

The Widow Sons Masonic Riders Association is an international organization that aims to raise Masonic awareness through the sport of motorcycling and its members contribute to a multitude of charities, from those supporting the widows and orphans of Mason members to hunger charities and the Wounded Warriors project, which Thursday's ride benefited.

"Motorcyclists get that bad connotation a lot," Donald Moser, a member of the Hiram's Thunder chapter of the Widow Sons, said. "We're going out and showing force by doing some good. We are bringing Freemasonry into the light. And hopefully we bring some good."

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The Vietnam-era Huey Cobra helicopter, painted in its original colors with a cobra on its door, will spend the weekend continuing its travel to Maine, where it will be welcomed to the museum with a parade and a POW-MIA festivital on its arrival Saturday.

In the meantime, the riders escorting the aircraft up I-95 to I-495 are donating and collecting money to go toward the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity that provides services to severely injured U.S. service members on their return to the United States as they try to transition back into daily life.

James Mowel, the Connecticut Widow Sons president and a member of the National Guard, has been on the ride since it started Tuesday and plans on continuing through to its final destination.

"We appreciate the sacrifice they've done and the time they've spent," he said. "It shows appreciation and that we respect for what we do."

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The Official Homepage of the International Widows Sons Masonic Riders Association, WSMRA since 1998

Three decades of Operation Fireside continues for Coast Guard

CAPE MAY, N.J. – The Coast Guard and the American Red Cross will place more than 190 Coast Guard recruits with more than 45 local-host families for Thanksgiving as part of Operation Fireside Thursday at 8:45 a.m.

Operation Fireside has placed recruits with South Jersey families during the holiday season since 1981. It allows the recruits to celebrate the holiday with a host family while they're separated from their loved ones during the rigorous basic training program. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May has approximately 200 recruits in training from more than 27 states and U.S. territories.

This also occurs during Christmas.

Jim Six: Defenders hope to help warriors in transition | NJ.com

Defenders hope to help warriors in transition

By Jim Six/South Jersey Times
on January 17, 2013 at 5:00 AM, updated January 17, 2013 at 5:07 AM


This news organization has often covered the triumphant return of local sons and daughters returning from the war, wherever the war happened to be.

There are often great photographs of huge American flags hanging from 85-foot-tall ladders on fire trucks as crowds of well-wishers gather to let the veterans know just how proud of them we all are.

This news organization has also covered the more somber return of GIs who died in the field, passing from this physical world in the uniform of the military of the United States of America, transiting to whatever Valhalla there is for fallen warriors.

This news organization has less frequently covered the return of those GIs whose status falls in the middle, those who were lucky enough to survive, but who returned wounded in some way.

We shouldn't forget about them.

The Defenders South Jersey 2 Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club agrees.

The Defenders has 55 chapters nationwide, three of which are in New Jersey.

Les "Hanshi" Whinna is the secretary of the South Jersey chapter. The Defenders is, by its own bylaws, made up of 70 percent active or retired law enforcement riders and 30 percent active or retired military members. First responders who aren't cops can also join.

The South Jersey Defenders is planning a beef-and-beer event at Masso's in Williamstown on March 16. Typical beef-and-beer — there will be 450 tickets at $25 a pop, but the Defenders will only get a few bucks from that. Auctions — one member is or was an auctioneer, so it might not be a silent auction. Prizes. Giveaways.

Les wants people to just pony up a few bucks, if they can. They'd like to be able to make a big donation when this is all over.

Where's the money going?

It's staying in South Jersey: the Warriors Transition Unit at Fort Dix. It will be spent for GIs who are transitioning out of the military because of injuries, or who are trying the get back to being healthy enough to remain in the service.

The South Jersey Defenders chapter has about 30 members, said Les, and most of them live in Gloucester County. This organization doesn't mess around. New members must go through three-months of probation and survive a criminal background check — one of their newest members is a former police chief and he hasn't been officially approved yet, said Les.

"Last year, we did a poker run," he said. Trouble is, motorcycle poker runs are dependent on good weather, so the organization decided to do just this beef-and-beer event this year.

Les is serious about getting as many donations as possible — for prizes or good old cash — in addition to the ticket sales.

"We would like to give (the Warrior Transition Unit) $10,000 and that's the bottom line," he said.

If you'd like to buy tickets or donate, contact Defenders South Jersey 2 at P.O. Box 2826, Vineland, NJ 08362, call 856-494-4128 or send an email to defenders.sj2@gmail.com.

Oh, they'll take your credit card.

Defenders MC » Nuke-Evolution » Welcome to Defenders Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club

Dogs on Deployment

http://dogsondeployment.org/

Dogs on Deployment promotes responsible pet-ownership and the military-pet community by providing an online resource for military members to search for volunteers who are willing to board their pets while they're on deployment. Military members nation-wide confront a multitude of problems during their careers, the last thing they need to worry about is their pet's care during their service commitments. Dogs On Deployment is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit which provides an online network for service members to search for volunteers who are willing to board their pets during their owner's service commitments. Dogs on Deployment promotes responsible, life-long pet ownership by military pet owners by advocating for military pet owner rights, providing educational resources and granting financial assistance for military pet owners during times of emergency.

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Awesome!

New Jersey Hospital to Offer Veterans Priority

New Jersey Hospital to Offer Veterans Priority - ABC News

Under the initiative announced Tuesday, veterans living in the seven southern New Jersey counties are being promised same-day primary care appointments and help from health care navigators at Cooper University Health Care. Veterans would be served at the hospital in Camden and at system clinics in southern New Jersey.

"We'll worry later about who pays or whether or not Cooper absorbs that cost," said Cooper chairman George Norcross III, who is also a Democratic political powerbroker and the brother of New Jersey congressional candidate Donald Norcross.

That is awesome.

I have two grandsons in the States, 11 and 9.
I am just afraid this will be continuing even After they are of service age.

I missed Vietnam by just months serving in the USN.
One of the helicopter aircrewmen I served with, James I Pratt, AX1 was lost with the pilots in a helo in the South China Sea less then one year after I was discharged, as an AXAN.

He was on the Yorktown when I joined it in '63. I was discharged April 1, 1964 from Imperial Beach, Rheem Field. They were serving on board the Yorktown, CVS-10, when lost on a non-combat night op. HS-4 still serves with distinction.

James I Pratt, AX1
Thomas D. Vincent, LT.
Charles K. Moran, LT. ......... February 25, 1965.........all with Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 4. Perished in a crash at sea.

This is a new one on me!!!

East Greenwich fallen soldier Capt. Ryan Iannelli one of 12 memorialized on Dog Tag Brewing beer cans

East Greenwich fallen soldier Capt. Ryan Iannelli one of 12 memorialized on Dog Tag Brewing beer cans | NJ.com

Not being a fan of alcohol consumption, when Donna Iannelli first heard that someone wanted to memorialize her son on a beer can, she didn't think it was a good idea, but after seeing it come to fruition, she now sees it as one more way for Ryan's life and sacrifice to be remembered.

Capt. Ryan Iannelli, an East Greenwich native and Kingsway High School graduate, joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Oral Roberts University in 2006. He was assigned to the Marine Light Attack helicopter squadron 269, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.

On Sept. 28, 2011, Iannelli's helicopter was brought down and he was killed during combat missions in Helman Province, Afghanistan.

Dog Tag Brewing has a lager and an IPA and it uses Rexam's Standard Editions printing technology — a revolutionary way of labeling its product — to be able to create different cans in each package.

There are 12 fallen soldiers currently featured on the packaging, which also sports a camouflage design.

You guys have to check this out!

Busting Posers -- We Have a Real Doozy This Time | MyServicePride.com

Found 2 places that help military pets.....


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt_-JrmAmWI


and.....
Welcome To Dogs On Deployment | Dogs On Deployment

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I used to deal with a Tony Iannelli,owned a jewelry store in the diamond district in NYC. Wonder if there's a relationship there. I need to check it out..

LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT AND WARRIORS WATCH HELP VET.

This is in a nearby town that I work in. The Gibbstown Volunteer Fire Dept was asked to assist the Warriors' Watch Riders with a Mug and Hug. They wanted to recognize a township resident who is a WWII vet and was a POW for 15 months during his service. They posted these pics on their Facebook page of the meeting.

Warriors? Watch Riders: WE HAVE YOUR BACKS AT HOME!

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These guys just interred some veterans that were found sitting on shelves in some funeral palors...

New Jersey's Mission of Honor - Home